Faith and Investing - Do Money & Morals Mix?

by Mark Regier, VP of Stewardship Investing, Praxis Mutual Funds and Everence Financial

I was both honored and excited when Cliff Feigenbaum, founder of GreenMoney Journal, offered me the chance to serve as guest editor for an issue focused on the role of faith-based investing in SRI’s past, present and future. (Had I known how much work he puts into each issue, I probably would have given it a second thought!) However, the opportunity to work with leading thinkers, advocates, and investor representatives to freshly articulate the importance of a values-based perspective was simply too good to pass up.

In this issue, Tim Smith—a pioneer in the SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) industry if there ever was one—walks us through 40 years of social investment history and helps us apply lessons from the historic investor engagement around South Africa to the challenges we face today around climate change and other social concerns. Katie McCloskey, in her interview with Sr. Nora Nash, uncovers the often-unrecognized influence of Women Religious and their passion for justice in laying the foundations for modern SRI in this country. Speaking from an advisor and client perspective, Andy Loving offers insight into the importance of—and increasing challenges to—preserving the values-driven perspective in a rapidly expanding and homogenizing SRI/ESG field. At the same time, John Siverling from the Christian Investment Forum brings us words of hope as he sees shifts in the historic divide between the traditional BRI/Evangelical Christian and SRI/ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) perspectives on investing. And, in my article, I challenge us all to a fresh understanding of the distinct value that both ESG and SRI bring to the work of building a better, more just world.

It is my hope that these articles—offering reminders for some and new insight for others—demonstrate how our differences, as well as our similarities, serve to strengthen the social investment movement and the impact we have on our world and the clients we serve. 

Finally, a few quotes from Pope Francis in 2014 on Money & Wealth: "Man is not in charge today, money is in charge, money rules."  and  "I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it"

Read the complete issue here - http://www.greenmoneyjournal.com/february-2015/